Many personal computers are shipped with a hard disk drive that contains a host protected area, part of which serves as a substitute for a system restore CD in a free lot manufacturing process. The hard drive thus contains information and programming to restore the personal computer to the same state in which it was shipped to a customer from a manufacturer. When the system is initially shipped, the manufacturing automated software has knowledge of the system content, and thus provides the correct operating system software and hardware drivers in the host protected area.
When a hard disk drive fails after being in the field, however, the replacement of a such a hard drive becomes very difficult. The restore CD may be lost or misplaced by the customer. Technical support staff may generate notes in a text field based on discussions with the customer, and an educated guess may be made based on such text as to what operating system software is required for the replacement drive. This process results in many further calls from customers regarding how to complete the process of restoring a personal computer. It adds both to cost, and customer frustration.